Peter And Pepper
by gunman
Summary: When Tony leaves a charity ball with another woman, Pepper Potts decides to follow his example, and picks up the first available guy she meets, which happens to be Peter Parker!
1. Rescuing The Spider

_**PETER AND PEPPER  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Spider Man or Iron Man or any other character.

Summary: When Tony leaves a charity ball with another woman, Pepper Potts decides to follow his example, and picks up the first available guy she meets, which happens to be Peter Parker!

I wrote this story because I basically got tired of the numerous Tony/Peter slash fics that have spring up in that particular crossover section. I mean, honestly! If Tony's gonna be gay then Pepper Potts needs someone else in her life. All things considered, Peter kinda fits the bill. And not because they have the same initials.

This takes place at the end of 'The Invincible Iron Man #29, 2010'.

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Chapter One  
**Rescuing The Spider**

Pepper just stared incredulously as Tony linked arms with the young, sexy woman in the tight red dress, named Sasha, and walked out to his sports car.

_I don't believe this! I convinced Tony to surgically implant me with my own repulsor unit like his in my own chest... just to get my Rescue armor back... we were actually getting close... and then THIS!_ Pepper internally fumed. _Why did I think that things had actually changed?_

Sensing her distress, her long time friend James 'Jim' Rhodes came up to talk to her. Some folks called him Rhodey as a nickname.

"Pepper... it's." Rhodey tried to say.

"..just like Tony." Pepper said.

"It's not what it..." the dark-skinned Marine tried to say.

"...he left! With another woman! Again!" the exasperated redheaded fumed.

Rhodey didn't know what to say to that, but what Pepper said next was nothing like he expected her to say.

"You know what? I think I'll take a page out of Tony's book." Pepper said.

"What do you mean?" Rhodey asked.

"I think I'll find some random 'guy', talk him up, and..."

"And? And what? Do the whole one-night stand thing like Tony usually does?" he asked.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not him?"

"You're right. I'm not. And it's time I had some fun as well." she said with a smile as she walked off.

She scanned the whole of the crowd that was attending another of Tony Stark's parties, odd since Tony had departed early, and saw several potentials until she finally noticed a young man with brown hair, dressed in a brown jacket and pants, looking like he wasn't having any fun whatsoever.

_Perfect_. Pepper thought as she made her way through the crowd, putting a smile on her face and a sway in her walk.

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Peter Parker wasn't sure what he was doing here at a party at Stark Solutions.

It's not like he and Stark had ever really been friends, whether or not they were civilians or heroes. Yes, Peter knew of Tony Stark's secret identity as Iron Man, though he had recently learned that Tony had lost a chunk of his own memory for some reason. Which somehow included his knowledge of Peter's own secret identity.

For that Peter was grateful. Once less problem to worry about, even if Peter was doing only part-time computer work for Stark Solutions.

Which is how he had gotten an invitation to this little party.

Of course, that didn't mean that Peter was actually having any fun, but it was better than sitting home wondering what take-out to order up. And for some reason he didn't feel like donning his red and blue tights and going for a web-sling.

Which often helped alleviate his mood.

"Another one?" the bartender asked.

"Kinda hard to get wasted on coke and water-downed liquor." Peter said.

"Sorry kid, but you don't look old enough to vote."

"Even though I'm 29, I still get treated like a kid." he huffed.

While the part-time work for Stark paid his rent and put food in his stomach, it wasn't much for providing for his future. A subject that often left him wondering.

He had very little career prospects in his life. He wasn't going to help sell photographs to J. Jonah Jameson that helped to ruin his image as Spider Man. He couldn't hold a teaching job because of Spider Man, he couldn't get a job as a chemist because of Spider Man, he couldn't even get a job fixing and programming computers, because of Spider Man.

_Let's face it, Parker, Spider Man is the only thing keeping you from having a normal life._ Peter thought as he quickly drank down his cola and (very-light) rum.

While Peter had accepted his fate a long time ago, it had been a nagging problem that plagued his entire life. Heck, Spider Man had even been responsible for the loss of two of his most recent girlfriends.

Gwen Stacy for one, and Mary Jane Watson for two. The former was dead, and the latter had left him at the alter some time ago. Left him because he was Spider Man, and she wanted to be Peter Parker's wife.

"Maybe I should just leave." he mumbled to himself.

"It's rather early to be turning in." a female voice said to him.

Peter turned his head and gasped when he saw a very attractive redhead with bright green eyes in a red dress suddenly appear right next to him.

_Whoa_. He thought. "Uh... hi." he said.

"Hi." Pepper said. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Uh... sure."

"You mean you do mind?" she asked playfully.

"No! I mean... please, sit down."

"Thanks." Pepper said as she sat down next to him. "I saw you from across the way and thought you looked a little depressed."

"And you took pity on me and thought you'd just come over, chat me up and I'd feel better?" he asked.

For a brief moment, Pepper wondered if her plan wasn't as perfect as she thought it was.

"Thanks." he said.

"Huh? For what?" she asked.

"Trying to make me feel better. I appreciate it." he said with a slightly sad smile.

Her sense of purpose renewed, Pepper settled back into her game plan.

"So, why so down? Tony Stark's parties aren't that bad, are they?" she asked.

"I'm not much of a party person." Peter said. "Though, I think my drink's a little more loaded than I thought it was."

"Why do you say that?" Pepper asked.

"Because a beautiful woman actually said 'hi' to me." he stated.

She actually blushed a little, though she might have figured it was the alcohol talking.

"I take it this doesn't happen too often?" she asked.

"No. Unless some one's just messing with me, so... which one is it?" he asked.

"Actually... you looked as lonely as I felt so I thought we could help each other."

"You? Lonely? I find that hard to believe."

"Why?"

"A beautiful, socialite like yourself is alone? Now me I can understand, but..."

"What do you mean, 'me I can understand'."

"Well, maybe it's the liquor talking, but... let's just say... I'm kinda socially awkward."

"Well, at least you're honest."

"I'm Peter. Peter Parker." he introduced.

"Pepper Potts." she introduced.

"Wow. What are the odds of two people with the same initials meeting up at a swank party like this?" Peter asked.

"You look like you could run the numbers on that." Pepper said.

"I have, actually."

"And?"

"About 5412-to-1."

"Well, why don't we raise those numbers even higher?" she suggested.

"Oh? How so?"

"I've got a place not too far from here where we can talk privately."

At that, he looked hesitant. "I should warn you... I've only had two girlfriends in my whole life."

"Did they both end badly?"

"Yes."

"Good." she said. "I've had the same luck."

With that, Pepper walked out arm-in-arm with Peter.

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Pepper blinked her eyes open as she stared up at the ceiling of her apartment. As soon as she saw the rotating fan above her head did she realize what had happened and what she had done.

And who she had done it with.

_Is this what Tony feels like after a round (or three) of sex?_ Pepper thought as she looked over at the still sleeping young man beside her. He wasn't much older than herself. Three years, if anything. _Still... why do I remember that name?_ She thought. _Of course! Parker! The photographer who takes pictures of Spider Man. Or... took pictures of Spider Man._ She thought, not having seen any good pics of Spider Man in several months. The Daily Bugle ran them almost religiously.

Still, she would have never figured a mild-mannered photographer like Peter Parker would turn out to be such a stud in bed.

_He was incredible! I don't think I've ever met anyone who was so thorough, so delicate, so... attentive to the female body._ She thought. _Then again, it's not like I sleep around enough to know. Tony would, but... no, don't go there._ _But I wonder where a guy like him learned all that. He doesn't seem the type to sleep around with other people. If what he told me about himself is true. And... if it isn't?_

She suddenly noticed that her date was starting to wake up and she turned to greet him. It was the only appropriate thing to do.

Peter blinked his eyes open and turned to notice that he was being watch by a pair of lovely eyes.

_Mary Jane?_ He thought... then quashed that thought when he remembered what had happened to him last night. _No... Potts! Pepper Potts!_

"Morning, handsome." she said with a smile.

"Morning, pretty lady." he said as he turned to face her.

"Mind if I ask you a terrible question?" she asked.

"I guess not." he replied.

"You wore me out plenty last night. Where did you learn all of that?" she asked.

Peter blushed and sighed as he told her about his previous girlfriend: Mary Jane Watson. After hearing that Peter actually dated the gorgeous supermodel, it did kinda explain where he learned his technique.

Which wasn't to say that Mary Jane was the promiscuous type, but in order to keep a woman like that happy, one would have to have more than a trick or two up his sleeves.

"Wow. Really." she gasped.

"Kinda hard to believe, right?" he asked, jokingly.

"Kind of. But... last night was rather... informative. Though, I was actually kinda worried."

"About what?" he asked.

"About... this." she said, pointing to the arc reactor in her chest.

"You mean you were worried I wouldn't be interested because of that?"

"Yes."

Peter shook his head. "I'm not. I actually wanted to ask you about it, but... well, it didn't seem very... romantic of me to mention that right off."

Pepper actually smiled at that.

"I'm a nerd by nature, so something like that interests me. Care to tell me what happened?" he asked, then quickly added. "You don't have to tell me if you..."

"It's alright. I... don't really mind." she said. "But... not right now."

"My ear is always open to listen to a lovely lady." Peter said.

Pepper smirked as a thought crossed her mind. "Peter... do you think this was a mistake?" she asked.

"Yes." Peter said.

"Thanks!" she huffed as if offended.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." he quickly said.

"Then what did you mean?" she inquired.

"I meant... it was a mistake of sleeping with you before I actually got to know you." he answered. "Even if it was good and we both needed it and..."

Pepper placed her hand over his mouth, stopping his rambling, grinning a little. At least, the edge of the right side of her mouth turned upwards.

"Was it really that good?" she asked, taking her hand away from his mouth.

"It's just... been a long time and I... didn't want to get into anything unless I actually knew what I was doing this time around." Peter said.

"That sounds fair." Pepper said. "So... how about lunch?"

"You... want to go on a date?"

"Yes." she smiled.

"Well... I'd like that." Peter smiled.

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Authors Notes:

Yes, it's another Spider Man-pairing, and this time with Pepper Potts, something I'm sure hasn't been done before. Also, yes, this chapter is extremely rushed, because I wanted to finish it on 9-11-10. It might seem strange, but I like doing things like that.

Again, there isn't much I can say about this chapter, except that it was something I wrote up in order to get rid of my Writers Block! I've been having a major problem with it as of late.

Next chapter: Spider Man and Rescue take on Whiplash and Delilah.


	2. Battle Date

_**PETER AND PEPPER  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I don't own Spider Man or Iron Man or their related characters.

Summery: Peter and Pepper take on a pair of supervillains who have been hired to go after Tony Stark, and end up finding out more about each other than intended.

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Chapter 2  
**Battle Date**

(Outdoor restaurant, downtown Seattle, Washington)

"So, you basically got that reactor put in your chest, because of your boss?" Peter asked.

"Pretty much." Pepper said. "It happened in Taipei, when Ezekiel Stane tried to blow up a party that Tony was hosting. Everything happened so quickly, I got pinned under a ton of debris."

_Been there._ Peter mentally smirked, remembering his own experiences in being buried under a ton of debris, while as Spider Man.

"I got a concussion, damaged nearly all of my internal organs, I was deaf in my right ear, and I had a mess of shrapnel in my chest. Tony knew that I wouldn't survive the prolonged surgery, so he put in an advanced magnetic device into my chest to keep the shrapnel away from my heart. Tony had to upgrade my body to incorporate some cybernetic technology, in order that the arc reactor I now have wouldn't kill me. Though it has been pretty advantageous to me." she explained.

"Oh? Like how?" he asked.

"Well, to start with, it fixed my eyesight..."

_Just like my spider-powers did._ he thought.

"...increased my metabolism..."

_Like my spider powers._

"...made me stronger, improved my reaction time and reflexes.."

_Again like my spider powers!_

"...and even upped my IQ by a few points."

_Hmm. I was already a science geek before the spider bite._

"It also gives me a degree of protection." she stated.

"Protection?" he asked.

"The reactor can generate an electromagnetic field that can repel bullets. Though... I've never had to test it against more than one bullet at a time, really."

"So you're kinda like a superhero, right?" he asked.

"Well... kinda." she said. _Though I don't have any weapons or elaborate functions like Tony's armor does, I get by as 'Rescue' well enough._ "I was briefly involved in the 50 States Initiative before Osborn took over."

"Yeah. I know." he said.

"You do?" she asked, curiously.

"Well, who hasn't heard about it?" he said, quickly covering for his slip.

"Right." she replied.

The pair continued talking about this and that, Pepper wondered briefly if she should tell Peter about her Mark 1616 armor.

It wasn't like it was a state secret, but Pepper didn't exactly want it publicized that she was any more than she seemed. It was almost like... she wanted some degree of normalcy in her life.

But as she and Peter talked, she noticed that he didn't seem very intimidated with her. Given that she was part cyborg, and was probably more than human, it was actually calming to see someone who was rather at ease with her.

Of course, this actually made her wonder why.

_Maybe Peter has a secret of his own?_ She thought. _Wouldn't surprise me._

Just then, Peter's spider-sense went into overdrive.

The world around him seemed to slow to a crawl as Peter turned around and noticed a large, butch figure with salt and pepper hair, tattoos, dressed in brown pants and a trench coat, and a pair of long energy whips that suddenly shot out of his sleeves. Peter quickly jumped forward and tackled Pepper to the ground as the energy whip slammed into the chair and table, slicing them to pieces. Other restaurant patrons and waiters instantly scrambled out of the way.

"What the..." Peter gasped.

"Vanko?" Pepper gasped.

"You know this guy?"

"Long story!"

"Give me the girl!" the man said in a thick Russian accent.

"The lady is with me, Boris." Peter said.

"The name is Vanko. Ivan Vanko. And you will give her to me, right now." he said as his energy whips started crackling with electricity once again.

"I don't think so." Peter said as he quickly pulled Pepper to her feet, hurled another table at the tough looking Russian, and quickly bolted down the street with Pepper's hand in his own.

He ducked into a nearby alleyway and peered around the corner, not seeing sign of pursuit. Yet.

"I don't think he's following us." Peter said.

"We have to get to Stark Solutions." Pepper said, digging out her cellphone. "Maybe I can get in touch with Rhody."

"No time. I see Mr Bad Attitude coming this way." Peter said as he started looking for a way out. _If I try and fight him here he might hurt other people around us._

"Well... any ideas?" she asked as she cellphone rang.

"Actually... I do." he replied.

As Vanko rounded the corner, he peered down the alleyway and saw nothing.

_Where did they go?_ He wondered.

From the rooftop that overlooked the alleyway, Peter was smiling as he saw Vanko head down the street from where they were.

Pepper, however, was actually staring at Peter with a degree of shock.

_He throws me onto his back and then hustles up the outside of the fire escape like it was nothing_. She thought as her phone continued to ring. "Uh, Peter? Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Peter gulped, realizing that even though he was trying to protect her, he had inadvertently revealed more about himself than intended.

"Yeah... uh... well, the truth is..."

Ring, Ring!

"Damn it!" Pepper huffed as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

(_Pepper? Rhody! What's going on? Are you alright?_) the voice on her phone said.

"Yeah, fine. For now. I just had a run-in with Vanko." she said as if it were not a problem.

(_Vanko's back?_)

"Yes, Rhody. And right now..."

CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

Pepper and Peter overlooked the edge of the building and saw Vanko using his electrified whips to smash and slash everything in his path.

"COME OUT BOY!" Vanko shouted. "YOU WILL GIVE ME THE GIRL, OR I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING IN MY PATH! HOW MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE YOU PREPARED TO SACRIFICE TO PROTECT ONE PERSON?"

Peter hung his head as he backed away from the roof edge.

"Pepper?" Peter asked the redhead.

"Yes?" Pepper replied.

"Can I trust you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... can I trust you... with who and what I really am?"

At hearing this, Pepper wasn't sure what to say.

BOOM!

Another car exploded as Vanko laid waste to the downtown area.

Peter sighed. _I guess I've got no choice._ He thought as he pulled out a device that looked smaller than a pager, and pressed the button on top. Instantly, a blue and red outfit popped out of the device, the size of the outfit clearly bigger than what could fit inside it. _Thank you, Reed Richards_. Peter thought as he unfurled it, revealing it to be...

"Spider Man's costume?" Pepper gasped.

"Yeah, uh.. Ta-da!" Peter said as he quickly changed out of his clothes and into his costume.

Since the pair had slept together, Peter wasn't too self-conscious about Pepper seeing him naked. Once he was changed, his costume and mask fully on his body, he turned to Pepper.

"I'll deal with Whiplash down there. Do me a favor and call the cops." Spider Man said as he leapt over the side of the building down to where Vanko was.

_I slept... with Spider Man?_ Pepper mentally shook herself out of her stupor.

Looking over the side of the building, Pepper gasped when she saw Spider Man leapt through the air, narrowly avoiding Vanko's energy whips, punching him in the face and knocking the Russian down.

_He moves so fast, so agile. Like he's been doing this for... well, I guess he has been doing this for years._ Pepper thought as Vanko tried to lash out at the webslinger, only for him to jump back, again narrowly avoiding being slashed by the whips.

Just then, Pepper looked up and across the street on an adjacent building she saw an athletic woman with long black hair, dressed in a skintight purple and silver costume that covered most of her body except for her head and parts of her legs. She had several knives on her body and a high-tech looking gun in her hand.

Knowing a bad guy (or girl) when she saw one, and they kinda stick out nowadays wearing an outfit like that, Pepper quickly dialed a number on her phone.

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"Tell Me Where The Woman Is! I'm Not Going To Ask You Again!" Vanko shouted, spitting blood from his mouth where Spider Man had punched him.

"Good. Because I'd hate to refuse you twice!" Spider Man snapped as he fired his webbing at Vanko's whips in order to cover them so that they wouldn't be so dangerous.

However, Vanko's energy whips were slowly burning off the webbing.

Just then, Spider Man's spider-sense went off. He looked over and saw another figure flying towards him. A figure that he recognized.

_Delilah_? He mentally gasped as he quickly dodged out of the way.

"Damned Wall-_Crawler_!" Delilah shouted as she hurled several knives at Spider Man, who dodged them, as well as the laser blasts that she fired in a wild spray that gave him more than one opening to escape.

"Delilah! Long time no see! Hey, did you ever get those 'Roses' I sent you?" Spider Man quipped.

"Why do you **think** I'm here?" Delilah shouted. "When you took down _**T**__**he Rose**_ you essentially put me out of a good **job**!"

"So you're going to try and kill me, because of that?" he asked.

"_**Yes**_!" she shouted and leapt at him with all her might, throwing punches and kicks that he barely avoided.

"Your loyalty is touching, but I've kinda busy right now, so could we continue this later?" Spider Man quipped.

"SHUT UP AND **DIE**!" she shouted.

Meanwhile, Vanko was just watching the fight with great interest.

_Hmm. Perhaps I could use this to my advantage._ Vanko thought. _If I help this woman eliminate this costumed buffoon, then I will be able to get my hands on that redhead who works for Stark._

Within seconds, Spider Man found himself being double-teamed by both Delilah and Vanko.

"What are you _doing_? I don't need your _help_!" Delilah shouted.

"I have my reasons. But I don't want him. I want the woman he is protecting." Vanko said.

"I don't have the woman, so you'd better go look some place else!" Spider Man shouted as he continued dodging the pair.

But as Spider Man was dodging Delilah's blades, he inadvertently threw himself directly into the path of Vanko's whips.

WHAP!

"ARGH!" Spider Man shouted as the energy whips slashed him across his back.

He slammed to the ground as the two villains approached him.

"I'm going to **kill** him!" Delilah snapped.

"Fine. Kill him. But not before he tells me where the girl is." Vanko said

"What _girl_?" she asked.

"Pepper Potts. I was planning to kidnap her and hold her for ransom against Tony Stark." Vanko explained.

"Really. Fine. But once he gives her up, **he's dead**." she said with emphasis.

_Have to get up. Have to move._ Spider Man thought as he struggled to get up. _Those energy whips messed up the electrical impulses in my body. Having a hard time getting my body to respond right._

Vanko quickly threw out his whips, catching Spider Man around his neck and stomach. Spider Man was on his knees when Delilah raised her knife over her head.

"Trying to _escape_? I think I'll _pin_ you to the **ground**!" Delilah shouted... right before a thundering roar that sounded like a jet engine flew caught everyone's attention.

"Huh?" Vanko gasped.

"What?" Spider Man gasped.

"Where?" Delilah gasped.

WHAM!

Spider Man and Vanko gasped in shock as a red and silver robot suddenly slammed into Delilah and knocked her away from the webslinger.

"Have No Fear, Rescue Is Here!" the robot shouted as she punched Delilah, knocking her back.

_You have got to be kidding me!_ Spider Man sweat dropped at the rather corny line that the female robot had just delivered.

Vanko, however, turned back to Spider Man, and turned up the energy of his whips in order to cause the websllinger more pain.

"Now you will tell me where the woman is, or you will die!" Vanko hissed.

"I... won't... tell... you!" Spider Man croaked as he struggled with the whip cutting off his air as well as electrocuting him as well. "Rrgh!"

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_Good thing I programmed my armor to hone in on my cellphone signal, otherwise Peter might be dead._ Rescue thought as the pair crashed into the street.

"Who the **devil** are you?" Delilah demanded as she kicked at the armored heroine.

"The name's Rescue!" the red and silver heroine declared.

"Delilah. And now that the _introductions_ are out of the way." the female assassin hissed as she threw herself at Rescue, throwing punches at the silver face plate of the armored heroine. "**Don't** get in my way! I am a professional assassin and I **will** claim my target!"

"Well, I can't allow that!" Rescue said as tried to dodge her fists, which only ended up getting her punched more and more in the face and body.

It was obvious that Delilah was more than a pretty face and brute strength. The woman knew how to fight.

Delilah kicked Rescue's legs out from under her, knocking her to the ground.

_Need a new strategy._ Rescue thought.

"And _why_ can you not _allow_ that?" Delilah asked, towering over her.

"Because!" Rescue snapped as her armor suddenly pulsed with a magnetic field that affected the metal objects in her outfit. "He works for me!" Rescue declared as she stood up and glared at the female assassin.

"What? My _body_... I can't _move_!" she gasped.

"Electromagnetic energy field. Basically I'm holding you prisoner thanks to the metal objects that you've got on you." Rescue said. "And in you, probably."

"You **Bitch**! Fight Me **Fairly**!" Delilah shouted.

"Right. Like that was working for me." Rescue said as she opened a part of her left gauntlet and jabbed it into Delilah's neck.

Delilah twitched a little before passing out.

"Not exactly a weapon, but I love this tazer." Rescue said, shutting down her EM field, causing Delilah to fall to the ground, then turning back to Spider Man and Vanko.

And gasped at what she saw.

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"Now you will tell me where the woman is, or you will die!" Vanko hissed.

"I... won't... tell... you!" Spider Man croaked as he struggled with the whip cutting off his air as well as electrocuting him as well. "Rrgh!"

"Then... you will die!" Vanko said.

"NO... I... WON'T!" Spider Man shouted as he forced himself to his feet, grabbed the whips that were still around his neck with his hands, and pulled on Vanko forcefully.

Vanko was pulled off his feet like he weighed nothing, and felt his body slam into a nearby car. He felt his body get yanked through the air again and get slammed into another car.

"Need to... finish this... now." Spider Man wheezed, the lack of oxygen to his brain making him feel lightheaded as had hands burned from the intense heat the whips were putting out.

Even though his tossing Vanko around had damaged the energy harness that was around his body, and was therefore channeling less energy into the whips than it should have.

He gripped the whips tightly and pulled Vanko into the air, spinning him around and around like a trick yo-yo, before slamming him into an already damaged car, one that Vanko had sliced up before Spider Man had arrived.

With his last bit of strength, Spider Man pulled Vanko's whips off of his neck and stomach, and collapsed to the street.

Rescue was at his side in a second, holding Spider Man in her arms as he looked up and vaguely saw his own reflection in her faceplate.

"Peter? Are you alright?" the armored heroine asked.

"Do I... know you?" the webslinger asked.

Rescue popped open her faceplate to reveal the green-eyed face of Pepper Potts.

"Pepper?" he gasped.

"How are you doing, hero?" she asked.

"Not bad, but... I think I'm... about to pass out... now." he said as his head flopped back.

"Need to get you out of here, handsome." Pepper said as she closed her faceplate, lifted Spider Man up bridal style and took off into the air.

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It was the next morning when Peter looked up and saw the ceiling fan above Pepper's bed.

He looked down at himself and noticed that he was dressed only in his underwear, but had several bandages on his body. Including the large burn scar around his stomach.

_Someone patched me up?_ He thought as he looked over and, on a chair next to the bed, were his clothes from his lunch date with Pepper. "What happened?"

"Oh, not too much." Pepper Potts said as she entered the room with a tray of medical supplies such as bandages and antiseptic. "Just figured this would be better than taking you to a hospital. Less questions."

"Pepper!" he gasped.

"Although... I think we've got a few things to talk about." she said as she set the medical supplies on the bed next to Peter. "Right?"

"Right." he sighed.

"I told you about my life... so..."

Peter sighed. "Well... that's fair. Well, you see, it all started back in high-school, with this little spider and a radiation experiment."

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Peter and Pepper spent most of the day talking about their respective pasts, finding out that there was a lot they both had in common.

But eventually, Pepper had to get back to work. Peter was more or less healed and joined her, since he too was a Stark employee.

Of course, when they got to Stark Solutions, they received a shock.

"YOU CHANGED THE NAME?" Pepper shouted at Tony, standing inside his office.

"Yes. Why?" Tony said, nonchalantly.

"That's What I Want To Know!" Pepper snapped.

"It's not a big deal. I just wanted something new. Something that would make us stand out." he said.

"And yet still has your name on it."

"Of course."

"So, as of today, 'Stark Solutions' is now 'Stark Resilient'?" Pepper clarified.

"Yes."

"Oy!" Pepper groaned. "You realize how much changing the name, on everything, is going to cost? How much time it's gonna take?"

"Less than you'd expect." Tony said.

"And more than you'd be willing to invest!" she huffed. But then her eyes brightened. "But... if I'm going to handle this, I'm gonna need some help!"

"Help?" Tony asked. "Like an assistant?"

"Yes. A personal assistant to help me handle this rather sudden transition."

"Okay. Do you have someone in mind?"

"Yes, I do." Pepper said as she turned around and walked out.

"Can I ask who this person is?"

"My new boyfriend!" she said as she suddenly stepped out of the office.

"Oh. That's nice, I... WHAT?" Tony gasped in shock.

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Authors Notes:

Here is the long-awaited Chapter 2, so I hope everyone enjoys it. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to improve it.

Yes, I am using the Ivan Vanko from the Iron Man 2 movie. And yes, Delilah really talks like that. With bold and italics in her speech.


	3. Spider Man vs Titanium Man

_**PETER AND PEPPER  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Spider Man or Iron Man or any related characters.

Summery: Peter takes on Titanium Man as a special team of supervillains are assembled to bring down Stark.

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Chapter 3  
**Spider Man vs Titanium Man**

(Undisclosed Location)

Ivan Vanko and the assassin named Delilah blinked when they opened their eyes.

They were both on single beds in a well-lit room with a small table in between them, with two glasses of water on it.

"Where am I?" Vanko asked.

"Where are _we?_" Delilah asked.

"You are very lucky that my men managed to extract you before the police could arrive." a voice said from the shadows, stepping into the light.

"Who are you?" Vanko asked.

"I am a man with a proposition for you both." the man said.

"What _proposition?"_ Delilah asked.

"I'm putting together a special team. I want you on that team." the man said.

"Why?" Vanko asked.

"Because you are unique individuals. Special. Talented. It would be a shame to waste such talent."

"You still haven't told us **what** you want us for." Delilah said.

"I want to destroy Iron Man. Bring his company to the ground." the man said.

"I like that." Vanko said.

"I thought you might."

"I'm not here for **Iron Man**." Delilah said. "I'm here for **Spider Man**."

"I witnessed your fight with Spider Man. After your battle he was carried away by Rescue, one of Iron Man's associates." the man said.

"He has _friends_." she mused. "Which means _I_ will need **allies** as well."

"And the pay would be considerable." he said, getting Delilah's attention.

"How _much_?" Delilah asked.

"Five million, up front. Considerably more, once the job is done." he said.

"We just agreed to help you, and you still wanna pay us?" Vanko asked.

"Yes."

"You must want Iron Man pretty badly."

"I do. Now... are you in or out?"

"In." Vanko said.

"_In_." Delilah said.

"Good." the man said.

"You said you were putting a special team together. Who else is on this team?" Vanko asked.

The man only smiled.

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It had been two weeks since Peter started work as Pepper's personal assistant. Two weeks since she had told Tony that she had a boyfriend. Two weeks since Peter had been introduced as her boyfriend.

Needless to say, Tony hadn't been willing to let this man have Pepper without a fight.

He first tried to physically outdo Peter, only to find out that he was not only athletic, but also agile and far stronger than he looked.

He then tried to intellectually spar with him, only to have Peter keep up with him fairly well. He was no idiot.

He then tried to make Pepper seem as a less-than-worthy 'prize', which only made Peter retort that just because Tony thought so, didn't mean she wasn't a good choice for a girlfriend.

Though Peter had initially passed Tony's 'tests', he didn't seem as impressed by the young man, since he still held some feelings for Pepper.

Of course his own personal flaws kept Pepper from actually reciprocating these feelings. Not that Pepper wasn't loyal to her boss, but she had initially given up trying to form any type of relationship with him in favor of someone who would give her greater attention.

"So... the new sign for the building will be here next week?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah." Peter said. "Mr. Rhodes has got a crew ready to replace the signs. The new stationary just arrived this morning, and the new pens will arrive tomorrow."

"Good. Good." she said, checking off the list on her clipboard.

Peter and Pepper were walking down the hallway to the electronics division, when the whole building suddenly shook.

"What is that?" Pepper asked.

"I don't know. But my spider-sense is going crazy!" Peter said.

"Does that mean..."

BOOM!

Peter and Pepper were tossed back as the wall a few feet from where they were standing exploded open. They looked up as the smoke cleared, and saw an 8-foot tall, green and gray-armored figure walk into the room. The suit was high-tech looking, with a steel visor over its face, and its palms glowing from the plasma-fire it had just fired.

"Titanium Man!" Pepper gasped.

"Not good." Peter said as he scooped Pepper up and took off running.

"Peter?" Pepper gasped as she was carried down the hallway.

"I'll hold him off! Get to your suit! Or if you can get our boss out here that would be great!" Peter said as he turned the corner and dropped Pepper back to her feet. "Maybe find Mr. Rhodes."

"Peter, you can't fight him!" Pepper declared.

"Then you'd better hurry, sweetie!" he said, kissing her on the cheek before running back to, at the very least, delay this deadly mechanized villain.

(Sigh) _At least he kisses me._ Pepper thought before racing to get her armor.

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Titanium Man fired again and again, blasting desks and cubicles to pieces. Several Stark employees were running around in a panic as if their pants were on fire.

Rushing up behind him, Peter grabbed an empty desk and smashed it into Titanium Man's back.

The large armored man just turned around and looked at him.

"You are kidding, yes?" the armored villain asked.

"Well, you're not laughing, so..."

"Your hope is lost, boy!" Titanium Man said as he turned his hand up and aimed it at Peter.

"I don't suppose we could talk about this?" Peter asked, slowly backing up.

"Nyet!"

"Okay."

Peter jumped around, dodging laser fire and missiles, bouncing off the walls like he was a human tennis ball.

"Run little rabbit, run!" Titanium Man shouted as he fired another blast of energy from his hand.

"'Rabbit'? Shouldn't you be hunting 'Moose and Squirrel'?" Peter said as he jumped around again.

"I do not find your humor very appealing." Titanium Man growled as he fired another missile at the young man.

"You obviously don't get out much!" Peter said as he flipped over the armored man.

"You are not human." Titanium Man asked, looking behind him and seeing him jump away.

"Thank you, Comrade Obvious! You think Stark hires 'ordinary' people to work for him?" Peter asked, jumping onto another desk.

"I should not have thought so, but you will not stop me in my mission!" he shouted as he fired a plasma-bolt at the desk, destroying it.

"And just what is your mission?" Peter asked, flipping back and onto the floor.

"I have come to destroy him!" he declared.

"Him? Who? Tony Stark or Iron Man?" Peter asked.

"They are one in the same." Titanium Man said.

"Not often!"

"Shut Up And Die!" he said, aiming his hands at the young man.

"Make Me!" Peter shouted. _Doh! Did I just say that?_ He mentally grimaced.

Titanium Man advanced, only to get blasted by a barrage of missiles that knocked him down.

"What?" Peter gasped as he looked up and saw the red and silver armored Rescue, and the black and gray armored War Machine had arrived.

"We'll take it from here, kid." War Machine said.

"Sure thing. I wore him down for you." Peter said with a groan.

Across the way, Titanium Man got back to his feet.

_Huh. Kid took on Titanium Man without any armor or special weapons. Gutsy_. Rhody thought as he opened fire on the armored Russian.

"Peter! Are you alright?" Rescue asked.

"I've been better." Peter replied to the heroine.

"Don't think you're getting out of dinner tonight just for this." she chided him.

"You'll have to bring it to me in bed." he said with a smile.

"Don't get a head of yourself, handsome." she said, lightly touching his face with her armored hand.

Titanium growled as he rocketed towards War Machine, tackling him around the waist and knocking him through a series of walls.

"That won't stop me!" War Machine shouted, pounding on Titanium Man's head while they flew through the concrete and steel walls, flying outside the building.

"But This Will!" Titanium Man shouted as he knocked War Machine away, and into a nearby electrical power station.

WHAM! ZZZZZZAP!

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" War Machine's muffled cries sounded as the generators he slammed into exploded around him.

"RHODEY!" Rescue shouted as she flew up to him, using her electromagnetic field to fly in and grab the dark-armored hero.

However, Titanium Man took advantage of this, and fired his plasma-bolts at the female hero.

BOOM!

"AGH!" Rescue shouted as she was knocked out of the sky and into the ground. Along with War Machine.

"Ouch." Rescue groaned.

"I heard that." War Machine said. "Thanks for the save, Pep."

"Don't thank me yet. He's coming around!" she said as Titanium Man flew up to them.

"Ready to admit defeat?" Titanium Man asked.

"We're not beaten yet." War Machine said.

Titanium Man looked over and saw a bus stop where a group of people were loading and unloading.

"Oh, look! Innocent bystanders!" Titanium Man grinned beneath his armor as he took aim at the bus.

"NO!" War Machine shouted.

"LOOK OUT!" Rescue shouted.

The weapons fired, the two heroes took off into mid-air to intercept the missiles, saving the innocent bystanders, but getting struck hard in their chests and backs.

The pair tumbled backwards, rolling over and over on the ground before coming to a stop.

"Ouch." Rescue groaned.

"Oh... don't wanna do that again." War Machine groaned.

"And now, you die!" Titanium Man declared as he advanced towards them.

However, while the 'Armors' were fighting it out, Peter had managed to catch up to them.

Seeing the two heroes down, Peter grabbed a large metal pipe (from a nearby street construction site) and raced towards Titanium Man, leaping into the air and slamming it hard into the green-armored villain's head.

Titanium Man turned around and tried to grab him.

"Hold Still!" Titanium Man shouted as he tried to grab the spry young man.

"No!" Peter shouted as he chucked the pipe into Titanium Man's head, nailing his faceplate.

"You Are Making Me Mad!" the armored villain shouted.

"I Get That A lot!" Peter replied.

Across the way, Pepper Potts saw what was going on.

"Peter..." Rescue groaned as she tried to stand back up.

Titanium Man blasted the ground that Peter was standing on, knocking the young man off balance and dropping him onto his back. The armored villain rocketed up and pounced on Peter before he could get back up.

"You are very brave, or very foolish!" Titanium Man declared as he loomed over Peter, his hand on the young man's throat.

"Like... 'brave'... better." Peter croaked out as the villain's armored hand was around his throat.

"Any last words?" he growled.

"Say... 'Moose and Squirrel'... just once?" Peter gasped.

"Die, Jester!" Titanium Man shouted as he raised his fist over his head, ready to crush Peter's skull with one blow.

But before he got the chance, a forceful repulsor blast knocked Titanium Man away from Peter.

"Step away from the civilian!" Iron Man shouted as he blasted Titanium Man again and knocking him down.

Iron Man stood next to Peter, turning to look down at him.

"You know, maybe next time you won't think about getting into anything with a guy who has armor for..."

SLAM!

"ARGH!" Iron Man shouted as Titanium Man tackled him to the ground and started pounding on him.

"Die American Pig-Dog!" Titanium Man shouted as he continued to wail on the hero.

"Geez! Who writes your dialogue? Castro?" Iron Man asked as he punched Titanium Man in the face and sent him back.

BLAST! Titanium Man fired a bolt of Plasma energy into Iron Man's chest, sending the red and gold avenger flying.

"Oww!" Iron Man groaned as Titanium Man approached him.

Seeing the armored avenger down, and his enemy advancing, Peter forced himself to stand and moved towards the electrical power station they had inadvertently returned to, grabbing a huge cable that had gotten knocked loose during the fight, and jammed it into Titanium Man's back.

"AAAAHHHHH!" the armored Russian screamed in pain.

Titanium Man crumbled to the ground as Peter stumbled back towards Rescue.

Iron Man loomed over the armored villain.

That was when the Stark Employees came out and started cheering

"He did it!" a man said.

"He saved us!" a woman shouted.

"Iron Man saved us!" another man cheered.

Iron Man looked back at the collection of employees, and just waved.

Peter paid it no mind as Rescue came over to him and caught the brown-haired young man in her arms.

"No offense, sweetie, but this is becoming a habit." Rescue whispered to her boyfriend.

"Tell me about it." Peter said as he passed out.

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Peter was resting in his bed after his vicious battle with Titanium Man, bandages around his face and torso, an IV in his arm and a monitor next to his bed.

"Ohhh..." he groaned.

"How do you feel?" Pepper asked, sitting next to his bed while writing on her clipboard and notepad.

"I just had this strange sense of deja vu." Peter groaned.

"My sentiments, exactly." Pepper said with a smirk. "On the other hand, it's a good thing that we have a fully staffed infirmary."

"I'm sorry about earlier." he apologized.

"If you hadn't done what you did, a lot of people would have been hurt or worse." Pepper said, getting up and kissing his forehead. "You did good."

"Thanks." he said.

Just then, Tony Stark walked into the infirmary.

"Tony!" Pepper asked.

"How's our boy doing?" Tony asked.

"He's doing fine. He should be up and around in less than a week."

"Really? I would have thought that Spider Man recovered quicker." Tony stated.

Pepper looked up at him in shock.

"I saw his fight against Titanium Man on the security cameras, Pep. It's not hard to figure out." he answered her silent question.

"Right." she said.

"You knew. When were you going to tell me?" he asked.

"Uh... never?" she answered.

"Why 'never'?"

"It was a secret."

"Because he was your boyfriend."

"No. Because he _is_ my boyfriend."

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am." she said with some stubbornness to her voice.

Tony sighed as she said that.

"Well, I'm not against having Spider Man around to help out, but..."

"Oh, here we go." Pepper said as Tony walked up to Peter.

"If you're gonna be with Pepper, I have to know you can protect her." the mustached inventor said.

"What? I didn't do a good job of that already?" Peter asked.

"Oh, you did. But you could do better." Tony said.

"How 'better'?"

"Better as in... not getting yourself beaten nearly half to death?"

"Well, sorry, I don't have a suit of armor to protect me all the time. I need to rely on speed and agility as best I can." Peter said.

"Didn't do you much good." Tony said.

"You too." Peter said, noticing the bruises on Tony's face. "Besides, I'm alive. And so is Pepper."

"You were lucky this time. Next time... you might not be." Tony stated.

"What are you suggesting?"

At hearing that, Tony actually grinned.

Peter just looked at Tony with a slightly worried expression on his face at what his 'boss' had in store for him.

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(Undisclosed Location II)

A man with dark hair, a silver gray suit, and glowing red eyes entered the room followed by Ivan Vanko and Delilah.

"How is he?" the man asked.

"Unconscious, but alive." the doctor said. "His armor took most of the electrical shock, but it should be easy enough to repair."

"Good. We were fortunate to intercept his prison transport before he reached the Super Max prison." the man said.

"And retrieved his armor in the process." Vanko said.

"Wake him up." the man said.

The doctor injected him with a specialized adrenaline shot, the Russian man waking up.

"Good morning... John Smith?" the man asked, reading the file that the fingerprints analysis brought back. "That cannot be your real name."

"It isn't. I had it changed." Titanium Man said.

"Really. Must not have been proud of your real name." he said.

"Pride gets a man killed more often than ambition. Now... what do you want?" the large Russian asked.

"I wanted to hire you. Actually, recruit you." the man said.

"Recruit me? For what?" he asked.

"For R.U.S.T.!"

"R.U.S.T.?" Titanium Man asked, getting a confused look from both Vanko and Delilah as well.

"The **R**aiders **U**surping **S**tark **T**echnologies!" the man said.

Titanium Man just looked at the man.

"Sounds stupid. What do you plan to do?" he asked.

"Destroy Iron Man once and for all, and use Tony Stark's genius to make a great profit and expand the boundaries of my power."

His eyebrow cocked.

"Is that not a contradiction? Stark _is_ Iron Man." Titanium Man said.

"Without his armor, he is nothing. Place his head on a platter, and he is less than nothing."

"It is only the head that we need." he said. "All of his knowledge is contained within."

"And how do you plan on getting it?"

Just then, a beautiful Japanese woman with long black hair and olive-green eyes entered the room.

"Greetings, I am Rumiko Fujikawa."

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Authors Notes:

Here's my update for this story.

Hope everyone likes it. And just so everyone knows, Rumiko was one of Tony Stark's girlfriends, before she was killed. So, guess where I'm going with this?

Next chapter: more romance, more action, more villains, and better clothes.


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